Blood, water and fire
by la-perla's mermaid
Summary: Johnny and Jesse get posesed by tortured spirits of the past, and if they don't solve this mystery they might die. Chapter four is uploaded. In a way it's HR JJ. I think it's pg13
1. Chapter 1

The real adventures of Johnny Quest

Disclaimer: the quest team belongs to Hanna Barbera ,I don't own them and I am not making money out of this.

Rate: Pg-16 for extreme violence.

Category: Mostly horror.

Blood, water and fire.

Aragon, 1610:

The ball was the most important one of the year, destinies, kingdoms and lives depending on it, the king of Spain offered it to celebrate the baptism of his newly born son, his heir to the crown. Carolina was nervous, today her engagement to Juan would be published in the toast; she loved him, but maybe more as a brother than a husband. Still it's better to marry someone you care about instead of a perfect stranger, like many of the girls did in those days. Either way she did not have a choice, under different circumstances she would have dozens of candidates. After all she was a duchess, a beautiful, healthy one, but there was one flaw, she was a bastard.

As many Spanish persons her parents had dark hair and brown eyes, she was instead a red-haired beauty with emerald eyes, just like the irish gardener her family haired before she was conceived. Every one knew, even when the gardener disappeared mysteriously, so there would be no comparison between them.

Because of that, most members of the Spanish royalty refused to marry her, she would have to marry someone of the bourgeoisie. That was until Juan appeared, he had the same burden Carolina did, he looked exactly like his mother's tutor, an english professor with blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was a viscount, so she could marry at least someone with "blue blood".

Every thing was perfect at the ball, but Carolina felt overwhelmed by the upcoming toast and went outside, to the garden of the palace, there she met with Juan.

-"Hello" she said surprised, she didn't expect to find him there.

-"Hello Carolina, are you feeling ill? You look pale." He said concerned.

-"I'm scared" she said shyly.

-"Me too, I do like the idea of marrying to you, but there's something wrong in here, our parents are hiding something from us"

-"I feel that way too, but I think they will tell us after the ball is over, it has something to do with our engagement".

She tried to be stoic, but something felt wrong, as if a tragedy was about to happen, Juan saw that and held her close until she stopped shaking.

When the ball ended both teen's parents reunited in a private room of the palace and told them what was on their minds:

-"You have to marry soon and have a child as fast as possible, you can even try to conceive one before your wedding, no one would know" Raquel, Juan's mother, said cheerfully.

-"WHAT!" the children screamed in unison.

-"If you have a girl, Carolina, she will marry the prince!"

-"That is impossible, the daughter of my cousin Carla will marry him" Carolina said looking scared.

-"That child is not born yet, and after five years from her marriage the king is impatient" her father Raul replied.

-"The king does not want his son to marry a foreigner, so it depends on you and your cousin to provide a bride for him, and now that he knows Carla has an ill hart you are the one up for the task" Juan's father, Carlos, said proudly.

Carolina squared her jaw and said in a cold voice: - "I will not do it, I am not ready"

Raul stood up and slapped his daughter hard enough to throw her to the ground and yelled:-"YOU SPOILED BRAT! YOU WILL HAVE A DAUGHTER BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR OR ELSE…"

-"OR ELSE WHAT?" Juan told him as he stepped between him and his daughter, "I will NOT force her to do something she doesn't want". He turned his back on Raul and helped her to stand up. That's when she saw his beautiful sapphire eyes. His handsome face was lit with the dim light of the fireplace, making him look like those angels painted on the bible she often read (like many people she was a strict catholic in order to avoid the claws of the inquisition). They got lost in each others eyes and didn't notice Raul getting ready to fight with Juan, but before he could hit him, Raquel held him back and sent the children to the guest's chambers. Once they were gone she told everyone in the room with a coy smile:-"do not worry for them, I saw the look on their eyes, just let them stay together and nature will do the rest". Everyone laughed.

While their parents planned the wedding, Carolina and Juan sat on the bed they now shared by order of Sara, and started talking. They had been good friends for a year before the engagement was decided and now they were starting to act as lovers. In one point their lips met, but before they could close their eyes and enjoy the kiss they heard a loud thump on the door of their room, as men dressed in robes passed trough it holding a big cross.

The man in the middle of the group had a red robe and seemed to command the others dressed in black, he said out loud:-"Juan Bustamante and Carolina Velazquez, you are arrested by the holy inquisition for the charge of sorcery; you will be judged and punished in the name of god and Jesus crist".

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Galicia, Spain. Countryside. 2006

Estella Velasquez was speaking with her ex-husband. When he arrived at the airport and didn't saw his ex wife and daughter he thought she would try to convince him to let Jesse stay with her a few more months, he expected to fight with her again. When Stella was in a big excavation she didn't wanted Jesse to go with her father until it was over, she said Jess would loose of important findings. Race Bannon was wrong.

His ex couldn't make it on time to see him at the airport, the whole excavation team was too busy, but she was more than eager to let her daughter go:

-"This work, is affecting her" Stella said, -"Here is where many innocents where murdered by the Spanish inquisition, we found many bones of men, women and children and all this is giving her nightmares".

Race saw the site, even after all that time the place was particularly morbid, it was in the country, far from civilization, in the top of a shallow hill that had dry grass and dirt instead of the lovely green soil that surrounded it. Back in the day, even when many persons were murdered in the city, some others were taken outside the village in order to torture them with total freedom; it was a medieval version of concentration camps.

-"Can't say I blame her, but don't worry, Johnny went to find Jess and he'll get her mind out of it. Now tell me something, how did you guys found out about this place?"

-"It's a weird story, a boy suddenly went nuts in a town not far away, he ran off and was found digging with his hands right in this hill, saying that he was buried here and had to set himself free, he did it all night long, when police went to take him to the hospital they found the bones. Seems that the previous storm made the tombs shallower so he could get to it. You see, this hill's soil is no good for crops, so no one touched the ground in a very long time, otherwise this site would be found years ago".

…………………………….

Jesse was cleaning the dirt of a knife she found in the ground, she was far from the excavation site but still it was easy to find lost objects, they were sprawled all around the place. It was obviously old and it was made of a cheap iron, _that's why it was left behind_ she thought, _everything that was valuable was stolen for the priests and went right to the church_. The knife seemed to be stuck on a large rock, but when she wiped all the dirt she saw it wasn't a rock, it was a skull, in that moment someone grabbed her from behind and she jumped on her feet, spun around and saw Johnny:

-"Don't do that again, hotshot!"

-"Lighten up Jess, it was just a joke" then he saw her pale face

-"what's wrong ace? You don't look so hot". A second later he saw the knife crushed in the skull, _that's why she got so scared_. -"I'm sorry, I didn't mean …"-

-"I know" she chuckled "It's just that I had nightmares…"

-"I heard some of that; I spoke to your mom. Come on, I'll race you to the camp" he said as he handed her a hover board.

-"I'm in!" she said cheerfully and went off before he could even speak. He looked back at the skull and in a second, a vision (or maybe a hallucination) came to him.

**_He saw himself trapped in a cell surrounded by people screaming in pain, he grabbed the same knife he had seen before, broke the lock of the cell and in order to escape he stabbed the knife into a guard's head, he was running towards the open when someone grabbed him from behind, then he felt a horrible pain on his head as dark shadows surrounded him._**

Johnny snapped out of it and gasped as he saw Jesse holding him by the shoulders and shaking him, she looked concerned.

-"Johnny, are you OK?" he realized he had been unconscious and stood up.

-"What the hell was that?"

-"I don't know, I turned around and found you on the floor, you stopped breathing for a second, I was about to do CPR when you started waking up, we should get your dad"

-"No, I'm fine, if we tell him he'll freak."

-"Johnny it's not normal to pass out like that, we should get help"

-"NO, it's nothing, I'm just tired from my last trip"

-"What happened?"

-"You know, terrorists trying to destroy the world, the usual"

-"Ok hotshot, but let's go waking to the camp, I don't want you to faint in the hover board and break your neck"

-"Yes mom"- he said sarcastically.

…………………………………………

Both teens barely spoke during the trip to the compound in Maine, which was recently rebuilt. They looked worn out and Johnny could tell Jessie was concerned about him. Their parents thought they were just tired, so they told them to take a few days of rest, no missions, school or homework. They hoped their kids would be back to normal fast, but it didn't happened that way.

After two days, both Doctor Quest and Race were starting to get worried, the children did nothing but sleep and the more they did it the more tired they felt, they didn't want to eat ,or play on questworld, they started to get very pale and had deep dark circles around their eyes . Doctor quest decided to do them some medical tests if they didn't get better soon.

…………………………………………

**_She was tied up, hanging by a piece of metal attached to the roof, they had tied her hands in her back and lifted her slowly, so the arms, in such an unnatural position, would lift over her head dislocating both her shoulders, the pain was beyond imagination. A dark figure dressed in a dark red robe came to her and told his assistants lo get her down, when they did, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her slightly, making enough pressure to hurt her but not enough to choke her either, tears were running down her face. The dark figure kept her in that position and spoke:_**

**_-"You disgusting little witch. Satan, your lord, is waiting for you; soon you'll go to hell, unless you tell me who else was involved in your unholy rituals"_**

_**-"I DO NOT KNOW WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, I AM NOT A WITCH!" she yelled in desperation.**_

_**-"LYAR!" he yelled back, then he lifted her sill grabbing at her throat and took her to another part of the chaimbs of torture, then he made her turn around pulling her hair back with his huge hands, she saw the iron maiden and knew what was coming.**_

**_-"You are just like that filthy lover of yours, little whore, but you will face your sins like he is facing them now"_**

_**-"Please no, let Juan out of this, he is innocent"- she pleaded, then she realized her love could be suffering as much as she was, she couldn't let that happen, so she said as the man locked her inside the iron maiden and it's spikes begun to pierce her body:-"I did it, I confess whatever you say I did, I did it, but PLEASE let him go, he didn't do anything wrong, it was all my fault".**_

**_The man laughed when he heard that and told her:-"you two demons have a wicked connection, he said the same thing that you said" and he continued in a mockery tone _**

**_-"It was my fault, she was innocent"-, then he turned serious and told her he had tried to escape and killed a guard, when they caught him all he said was "If you dare to hurt her I will kill you all".-"He has been judged already"-he continued-"and he will die tomorrow soon after you die burned as the spawn of hell you are"-_**

**_With that he took a rope that was near the devise of torture and pulled it, making the spikes of the iron maiden dug deep inside her flesh._**

**_Carolina screamed as the pain turned into agony and saw the man in front of her, he was tall, and strong ,very strong, he looked more like a soldier than a priest, still even if she tried, she couldn't see the face hiding in the hood of his robe._**

Jesse woke up horrified, she had similar nightmares before but this one was much more intense than the others. She could still feel the pain of the iron spikes. She saw herself and realized she had round wounds all over her body and they were bleeding profusely, her sheets were covered in blood. _This isn't happening_, she thought_, I'm still dreaming_. She tried to make herself wake up but realized she wasn't dreaming anymore. She stood up and went to her bathroom, took of all of her clothes and stepped into the shower to wash al the blood. After a few minutes she was clean, and when the blood washed off there were no wounds or scars underneath, she wasn't hurt. She though that maybe it was just a hallucination, after all, there was no blood in her discarded clothes anymore and her skin was completely flawless, as if nothing had happened.

She stepped outside of the shower and saw her face and upper body in the mirror, and her reflection took her breath away. Starring back at her was a woman who had been burned almost completely ,there were no traces of skin, just a few black ,shredded muscles barely attached to the bones, strays of red hair still lingered in her scalp. The awful image saw Jesse with her miraculously unharmed green eyes and tried to scream, but instead of a yell, a black liquid came out of her mouth.

When Jesse came to her senses she realized she was laying in a fetal position next to the toilet, she stood up, still shaking and saw her reflection again, she recognized herself, but she was pale, her eyes were puffy and red, she had been crying, then walked to her room and saw the sheets in her bed, they were drenched in sweat, not blood.

She dressed in a pink t-shirt with sweat pants and sat on the bed trying not to fall asleep for the rest of the night.

…………………

**_Juan didn't know how much more he could take, the whip his captor used was turning his skin into shreds, he screamed as the priest poured a mixture of lemon, salt and boiling water in his open wounds, he tried to see his face but it was hidden in the hood of his dark red robe, he new he wasn't the same that captured him and Carolina a week ago, this one was leaner, less muscular and a few inches shorter he could see a glimpse of his beard. He was too weak to fight when he was taken to a bench by two more priests in black robes, they tied his hands above his head and his legs were stretched and tied at the other side of the bench, then the man in red robe gave a command and the chains that held his wrists and ankles started to separate from each other painfully stretching his tortured body, the man in red robe said:_**

**_-"Tell me who else was involved in that awful crime you committed"_**

**_-"For the eleventh time, I do not know what you mean! .What crime are you talking about?_**

**_-"You made witchcraft to hurt Carla Herrera, she said he saw you and her cousin doing pagan rituals in the middle of the woods, she said YOU caused her heart illness, but I know that demons like you never work alone, so tell me. Who besides your whore helped you?_**

**_As in response Juan spitted in the priest face, he couldn't tolerate someone to insult his loved one, and he realized at that moment that nothing he did or say would save him from dying. His captor spoke to him in a cold voice filled with hatred:_**

_**-"I see you do not want forgiveness from our Lord, well go to sleep with the creatures of your kind, tomorrow you will die"**_

**_By that time his arms and legs were torn, for being stretched that violently. He couldn't even move when he was taken to another room and was thrown in a dark, large hole in the ground. He broke a few more bones when he landed in the cold floor, he thought that was his last punishment for the night, but instead he saw around him and found dozens of red tiny lights around him all in pairs, the lights were getting closer and then he started recognizing the forms attached to them, they were eyes, rat's eyes, along with another critters such as worms and spiders. He knew rats ate about anything especially when they were as hungry as these seemed to be, his smell attracted them and all he could do is pray, as those creatures jumped to eat him alive._**

Johnny woke up screaming, at least that's what he tried to do, but no sounds could come out of his mouth, as if someone was chocking him. He looked around and saw nothing, then he heard sharp, shrieked noise that seemed to come from under his bed, he saw under the sheets and found dozens of awful filthy rats jumping to attack him. He jumped out of his bed and tried to scream, but again, something was in his throat blocking the sounds he made. He tried to get to the door but he couldn't open it, he spun around and ran towards the window but when he saw his bed, it was empty and the only sound he heard was Bandit's whimpers, he was hiding under the bed.

_It was a dream, jus a stupid dream_. He thought, but the he noticed that the strange sensation of chocking got worse, now it expanded to his lungs and mouth and it felt like he was under the water, he tried to cough, it didn't work, he couldn't breathe anymore, he fell on the floor because of the lack of oxygen, but tried again, and out of his mouth came about a liter of stinky, thick, dark water. He stayed there, crouched on the floor. He wanted to cry, scream or anything that made anyone in the house come to him, instead he took a deep breath and stood up. He was going to the bathroom to wash his face when a voice came from behind, he turned around and saw himself, at least a version of him. The image was almost transparent, like a ghost, and looked as if he has been bated to death and then drowned, he was still wet and started dripping in the carpet floor. Johnny was paralyzed as the image talked to him:

-"Do not let them get to her, they will kill her. Please, if those monsters find her…" The image started crying, Johnny didn't know what to do, he was about to run for help and tell his dad to lock him away in a mad house when he heard someone knocking at the door.

-"Johnny, are you there?"- Jesse asked shyly, she got tired of waiting at the dawn, it was only one a.m.! She was terrified about having another nightmare and thought she could stay with her friend, after knocking again she pushed the door, there was no lock. Instead of seeing his friend sleeping, she found him standing in a corner of the room, shaking, with his eyes lost in the landscape that the window showed.

-"Johnny what happened? Are you alright? - Concern was clear in her voice. He looked at her and then at his room, there were no rats, no water and no ghosts, just him and Jesse He got himself together and told him in a raspy voice that he was fine and asked why was she there, trying to hide how happy he felt about having someone with him after that awful nightmare.

Jesse saw him and said in a low, soft tone of voice:

-"I had a bad dream, I didn't want to sleep again but I'm sooo tired, I thought that maybe…" She trailed off as she knew how stupid the situation was. _How old am I? .Four?_ But before she could turn away ashamed he responded:

-"Sleep with me?-

-"Forget it, I was just…"-

-"It's ok. I had a nightmare too, I could really use some company besides Bandit"- he said as he blushed, embarrassed.

-"Cool, I'll have the left side".

As soon as they snuggled close to each other they fell asleep, they were tired, yet somehow knew that now that they were together, no more bad dreams would haunt them for the night.

When Race woke up he went right to Jesse's room, he was worried about her, tomorrow he would take the kids to the doctor so he could tell what was wrong with them. He entered in her room and found her bed open, he checked the bathroom, it was a mess, and there were discarded clothes in the floor, which was wet. _This isn't like her, she's usually very neat._

He looked for her in the hall and went to Johnny's room to ask him if he saw her,

He found Benton at the door of his son's room, he was about to do the same thing Race did with his daughter, Race told him about Jesse and both men entered the room to speak with Johnny, that's when they saw there were two heads in the pillow instead of one.

-"I don't believe this"- Race said annoyed.

-"Don't think of it THAT way, they're just children." Benton replied.

-"It's not that, but you know that at his age, boys have a certain type of dreams I don't want my daughter to witness, that's all"

-"Don't worry about it, the only dreams he had were nightmares" Benton got serious; he had to do something about his son before he got worse.

Race tried to pull Jesse away from Johnny but he saw he was holding her tightly; he pulled again, with more strength this time, while Dr Quest tried to wake his son.

Even in his sleep, which was quite peaceful this time, Johnny still heard the voice of the ghost, his ghost, _do not let them get to her, they will kill her. Please, if those monsters find her… _and now a force was trying to take her away from him, he wouldn't let them, he held her with al his strength until a sound brought him back to reality, he opened his eyes and saw his father telling him to let Jesse go, at that moment his muscles relaxed and Race was pulling so hard that when Johnny let her go, he jumped back with Jesse in his arms, she was still asleep.

-"Ponchita wake up, don't scare me"

Jesse opened her eyes and saw his dad

-"Where am I?

-"In Johnny's room. Why did you come here?

-"I was scared" she snuggled next to his chest and fell asleep again.

Benton spoke to his son:

-"What was that all about?"

-"I was just…"

-"Having another nightmare?"

-"Yeah, kind of"

Benton sighed and said

-"I want you to go downstairs and get some breakfast, and don't you dare telling me you're not hungry, you need to eat. Race, how's Jesse?"

-"Seems fine, she's awake now. Aren't you, darling?

-"Yes dad I am"

-"Good, go have breakfast with Johnny".

Once they were alone the two adults talked:

-"Ben, did you talked to the neurologist about the kid's dreams?"

-"Yes, he was coming from D.C. to see them but the forecast says there's a hurricane coming up, he'll be here next Monday."

-"Too bad, tonight there was supposed to be a rare alignment between planets"

-"I know, Johnny was looking up for it"

Hours later the kids sat in the living room discussing their dreams:

-"Jess we have to do something about this, there's something supernatural here, unless we've lost our minds"

-"I know. Why don't you see if you can find something on the internet and I'll go look for information in your dad's library, there's got to be something about paranormal activity there, after all that's part of his research"

-"Sure, meet me at the lighthouse when you find something"

Two hours later Jesse found Johnny at the lighthouse, all computers were on and she could see on the screens an image of people being tortured the same way she was on her dream, it seemed to be extracted from an old book. Johnny was sleeping over his laptop; Jesse had to shake him roughly to awake him.

-"Great research hotshot, can you sleep and type at the same time?

-"Very funny Jess. I found something. Here it says that these tortures were common, as you know, in the inquisition, and there were many young people among the victims, but only about fifty were executed near the excavation site your mom worked, and it seems that two hi-command priests were ruling there, I think they are the ones we saw."

-"Are you sure?"

-"Yeah, back in the day, priests wore habits, not hoods. These ones did because they used to be monks from Germany, before they were recruited to do the church's dirty work in Spain. These ones in particular took care of the victims who were noble."

-"Do you know their names or have a picture of them?"

-"No. Why?"

-"Cause I found something important, you know that tonight there's gonna be an alignment in the sky between mars, Venus , the moon and the earth, like a moon eclipse but bigger."

-"Yeah, something that happens once every century, I prepared my telescope but there's a hurricane coming up so we won't see anything"

-"During that eclipse, the moon will turn red, well pink actually. It's called the hunter's moon because the souls of the evil persons come back to haunt their victims again, even after reincarnation. I think the dreams are telling us that those priests will come back tonight and kill us."

-"Wow, slow down Jess. What are you talking about?"

Jesse sighed and continued:

-"This book says the "hunters" will repossess the bodies of their reincarnated form and go after the persons they killed in their past life. You know that most dreams are more like memories from our previous lives, you told me the ghost that came to you was your doppelganger."

-"Yeah. I guess. But, even if you're right. How will they find us? They only have one night to get us and in the middle of a hurricane they don't have much chance of doing it."

-"That's the worse part, once the alignment is over souls don't always go away, sometimes they share the body with the possessed ones and sometimes they take command of the person completely. So even if we escape from them tonight, they might come for us tomorrow."

-"So what do we do?"

-"Find them before they find us"

End of chapter one.


	2. Chapter 2

-"And how are we suppose to do that? It's not like we can just go to the library and…"

-"That's it Johnny! The library might have a record of the people involved in the inquisition."

-"How can a library have such old and detailed records of something that happened centuries and miles away!"

-"Your dad said once that…"-

As in response, Dr Quest entered in the lighthouse. He was concerned about the children and hadn't seemed them in all morning. Before he could ask them how they felt, Jesse ran towards him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

-"Dr. Quest, is it true that the founder of the public library has record of dark historic events?"

-"Well, yes." He responded, startled by the strange question.-"He used to go to college with me, but he was studying another career. He always had a fascination with violent history. In the library he installed a collection of rare books and records of things like the holocaust, the French revolution, the inquisition and the witch-hunt in Salem."

Before he could finish, the children were running desperately towards the door but before they could go trough it Benton stepped in front of them:

-"Were do you think you're going?"

-"We're going to the library, dad, we need to find something"

-"You are not going, not today, there's a hurricane coming and you are sick"

-"Dr. Quest, we're not sick and the hurricane won't be here until late at night"

-"I don't care and I won't hear anymore of it. Now go to the dining room and eat your lunch, you had nothing but tea this morning."

-"We weren't hungry then and we're not hungry now!" The kids said in unison.

Every time they tried to eat, Johnny saw a rat in the plate in front of him and Jesse smelt the burned flesh of the woman she saw in the mirror. The thought about going trough that again gave them nausea.

-"You have to eat!" This time Benton seemed concerned, both teens went from pale to gray in a matter of seconds in front of him.

-"I'll tell you what dad, you let us go to the library and we'll eat all you want"

-"Fine. But as soon as you come back, you're telling me what's going on"

…………………………..

One hour later Johnny and Jesse were trying with no luck to get access to the library's private collection. Finally, a med student that was preparing herself for a final heard them from the hall and told them she was the founder's niece and that she had the key. The young woman was far from being good looking, in spite of her big and kind brown eyes, the tall chubby brunette looked like a complete butch. She explained them that she shared her uncle's affection for dark history.

-"In a way" She told them, "all the important events are violent. All the history you see in your school books happened thanks to the deaths of many innocents"

They went to what seemed to be a huge basement; it was only lit with many, yet discrete lamps. The whole place was tastefully decorated in a classic stile. The student's name was Melissa; she told them were they could find the information they needed and sat in a comfortable armchair while they looked in the ancient books.

Johnny found the names of the priests in a confession of a duchess named Carla Herrera, she wrote it before she died, explaining what truly happened. It was written in Spanish, but luckily Jesse spent half her time in South America with her mother and could translate it:

"_I am going to die, I just went trough labor bringing a beautiful baby girl into this world; but by doing this I lost too much blood and the midwife told me that because of my ill heart, I will not live to see the dawn. I know it is a punishment god gave for leading my innocent cousin Carolina and her soon-to-be husband to an early death. They died because I went to father Schwartz and father Kant and wrongfully accused them of being involved on pagan, satanic rituals. I did it because I could not allow them to have a daughter before I did, if that happened, my family and my husband would deny me of my honor or perhaps, my life._

_Now I know the only one who made a pact with the devil was me, and I deserve to go to hell for the eternity, still, I am glad my daughter will be queen in the future._

_I leave this confession written with my last strength to let the world know the truth, so my cousin's memory will not be tainted with awful lies"_

_Carla Herrera, 1612_

The teens found proof that their dreams were true, all those things truly happened. Jesse looked in a book that contained drawings and portraits of people that lived during the time the confession was made. She searched the names they just read, finding a drawing and two portraits that she showed Johnny and Melissa. Johnny saw it and recognized immediately the ones that tortured them in their nightmares; unfortunately they still had their hoods.

-"Don't you have one drawing with the hoods off, Jess?"

-"No, it's all I have. Here it says they always wore them because of a pact they did with the church, but that's not the weirdest part, look a this paintings"

She handed them the copy of two portraits, one was of Juan Bustamante and the other one of Carolina Velazquez, Melissa saw them and for a moment she thought she had lost her mind. The faces in the portraits looked exactly like the kids next to her.

-"So… I guess those were us, right Jess?"

-"If we look like the persons we used to be, so will the priests"

-"Yeah, but we don't know how they look like, remember?"

-"We can keep searching until we find their portrait, if we find one from before they joined the church…"

-"Well know how their faces are!"

Melissa didn't know what was going on, but something told her she should help. The brunette felt like living on a permanent déjà vu, as if she had seen all this in her dreams, especially after she read the confession, Melissa could swear she had seen it before. Eventually the kids told her the whole story, at least what they knew.

Even when the student always was a skeptic person, she felt there was enough evidence to convince her. Two hours later they hadn't found anything, there was a knock on the door and when they opened it Race was standing there, he told the kids it was time to go because the hurricane was coming early, they started protesting:

-"Dad, just let us stay here for a few more minutes, it's really important."

-"You don't understand ponchita, it's raining already, we'll barely make it on time to avoid the storm if we leave now"

-"But race…"

-"No buts Johnny we're leaving"

-"Its ok children"- Melissa said –"I'll search for the pictures and send it to you by fax, after all, it's too late for me to go home so I'll stay here."

Jesse felt a sudden wave of nausea, the smell of burned flesh filled her nostrils again, this time it was much more intense than before. She excused herself and went towards the small restroom in the corner of the basement, locked the door and threw up, but instead of her lunch a black thick liquid came out of her mouth, she didn't know what it was but it tasted like blood and rotten flesh. She heard her father knocking at the door, asking her if she was okay, but she couldn't speak no matter how hard she tried. She washed her face in the sink and when she saw herself in the mirror her reflection showed the burned woman, this time there were words coming out of her destroyed mouth. At first it wasn't easy to hear her, especially with her dad threatening to throw down the door, but eventually she heard: -"K' -re", then -"co-rre" and finally: "CORRE!" Jesse knew what that meant… RUN!

At that second Race busted the door and Jesse ran towards the exit of the basement but her father cached her in mid air, he asked her what was wrong but all she could hear is _run run run run runrunrunrunrun_ until words lost their sense and the world turned black.

Race looked with concern at his daughter who lay unconscious in his arms, he touched her forehead, she was boiling up with fever. He asked Johnny to call his dad but saw him grabbing his head with all his strength; he had an expression of pure pain. Melissa was beside him and made him sit on a chair nearby, when he opened his eyes all he saw was the ghost of himself, wet and beaten to death, that whispered into Johnny's skull_:-"Run away and take her with you if they find her they will kill you both do not let them get to her donotletthemgettoherdonotletthemgettoher…"_

-"STOOOP!"- He screamed with all the air in his lungs and the terrible headache disappeared. He couldn't breathe anymore, he gasped for air yet he felt as if he was swallowing water, then his strength left him and collapsed.

**_Priests dressed in black robes kept throwing rocks at him, some of them were sharp like knives, some others were bigger than his head and some others had been heated to the point of glowing red in an oven usually used for making swords, as if the rats hadn't done enough harm. Still, he was alive; he was clinging at the absurd thought of escaping and saving his beloved. Hours past like centuries and during all that time the priest in red robe (in his mind he referred to him as "the monster") stood quiet and still as a statue, Juan was now unrecognizable, between the rats, the tortures and the rocks there was nothing unharmed in his body, yet right when his captors thought he was finally giving up to his faith, he stood as straight as possible and yelled:_**

**_-"You monster will never kill me, or Carolina, we are stronger than all of you combined"_**

**_-"This is enough you pagan, it is time for you to go meet your creator Lucifer, and tell him face to face, that the power of our Lord is stronger than his"_**

**_With that said, the monster grabbed him from his hair and dragged him for two miles, until he arrived at a big lake that was turning into a swamp, he threw him into the water, his hands on the victim's neck and begun to drawn him, but as hard as he tried, Juan kept fighting, now in his befuddled mind he said: -"Resist Carolina, I will save you"_**

**_-"Your whore is dead, pagan." The monster responded as he lifted Juan's head above the water and showed him the smoke of a fire not so far away -"Do you see that? It is your lover; she has been roasting all morning"._**

**_-"NOOO!" it was all he could scream before the monster sunk his head in the water, with his last breath, he removed the hood from his murderer and finally saw his face, now nothing else mattered, he left the darkness to envelope him in a black haze, the last thought on his mind was to meet his loved one on the next life._**

**_Carolina was tied up in an old tree, there were burning branches at her feet and the smoke was hurting her eyes as the flames burned her body slowly. On the dungeon she heard that being burned alive wasn't that bad because usually the smoke killed you before the fire reached your feet. But she was on an open field in a windy day, the smoke was enough to hurt her lungs but not to make her faint. She was conscious of the flames burning her feet and legs to the bone, she smelled the awful stench of her own burned flesh, at first the pain was excruciating, but as her skin and nerves were destroyed, the pain lessened, yet as soon as a part of her body was too burned to hurt another part of her, like the torso, was just starting to feel the pain again. Father Schwartz was observing her intently and when she was too weak to keep screaming he spoke to her:_**

_**-"Satan has made you strong, but God is much more powerful than you"**_

**_-"I do not care what you do to me, but please let Juan go" She said between sobs, the smoke and hurt was finally affecting her senses, she was too weak to think clearly. "I will give you all you want, my confession, my wealth, all my belongings, and I will thank God for your mercy if you just let him go and spare his life!"_**

**_-"But we have all your assets, and your confession is useless now that you are being punished already, I am being merciful because I will send you to Lucifer your creator and God will not waste his valuable time in hearing your filthy words. As for your lover, he was killed this morning"-_**

**_After hearing this Carolina tried to scream, but instead she threw up dark blood that came from her destroyed organs. She didn't feel the heat anymore, instead she was cold, first she thought it was the strong breeze that managed to blow of her murderer's hood, so she could finally see his face, but the cold was more intense now and she whispered his beloved's name before the oblivion took her away._**

Johnny and Jesse woke up at the same time, the expression on their faces was of sheer panic. They saw the faces of the hunters, and worse of all, they recognized them. Race held his daughter in his arms and talked to her:

-"How do you feel?"

-"I'm c-cold" she didn't know if she was stammering from cold or fear

-"That's because of the fever, we tried everything but nothing seems to cool it down, it's very high ,you're scaring me honey, and we can't take you kids to the hospital because it's closed for the hurricane."

She realized she was in the infirmary of the compound surrounded by ice bags and wet cloths. At her right she saw Johnny talking next to his father, he was shaking and she knew it wasn't for the cold even when he was covered in blankets, there was small tube coming out of his chest that ended on a plastic recipe filled with dark water.

Johnny saw the tube and said

-"Dad, what is this?"

-"You had liquid in your lungs, we had to drain it so you could breathe, and as if that wasn't enough you also had hypothermia. I want you to rest; as soon as the storm is over we'll go to the hospital"

-"Can't you take this thing off? It's creepy."

-"I will if you promise not to scare me like that again" he said with a tired smile

-"Yes dad" he saw Jesse by his side while race checked the thermometer he removed from her ear, he seemed worried.

While Dr. Quest carefully removed Johnny's tube Melissa appeared in the infirmary, when the kids collapsed, she helped Race to take them to the compound and once they arrived she helped Benton to stabilize them. As a med student she had some medical training and was good taking orders under pressure.

-"Hi kids, how do you feel?

-"Better" Johnny lied "uh, can Jess and I speak with you… alone?

She saw the Dr. and the bodyguard, her eyes told them she had no clue why he asked such a thing, and still both parents said they would give them sometime to talk. With his eyes, Race told her to share whatever information she had with them as soon as the talk was over.

Johnny couldn't hide his fear anymore, and Jesse begun to cry, Melissa didn't know what to do:

-"Kids, what is it?"

-"We know who the hunters are" Jesse said quietly.

-"Well, who are they"

-"Did you talked to our dads about this whole thing?"

-"No, between your lungs and Jesse's fever I didn't have much time. Do you want me to tell them? If you know who the priests are they could stop them. I mean, your dad is nice Jesse, but I wouldn't mess with him, and the Doctor is not that helpless either."

Johnny begun to shake more violently and hugged himself while Jesse kept crying.

-"What is it? What's wrong? Tell me who the hunters are so we can…"

-"They're our dads!" Jesse squealed.

-"WHAT?"

-"The man that burned me alive over tree hundred years ago reincarnated as my dad!"

-"Same thing with the guy that drowned me"

-"So, you are saying that we are trapped in a manor with two men that will turn into murderers in a few minutes, and we can't escape because there's a HURRICANE outside?

-"Pretty much, yeah" Johnny said simply.

-"Maybe we could drug them until the "hunter's moon" it's over" Jesse said, regaining control on herself.

-"I don't think so; drugging them and making them weak would only make the transition easer. I think the reason you guys got sick is because you have to be closer to the world of the dead in order to communicate with them, Juan and Carolina had to almost kill you before you could understand what they were saying"

-"How does a med student know so much of supernatural things?" Jesse asked.

Melissa blushed and responded:-"I was a Goth chick back in high school. I spent many nights reading about ghosts and vampires until I grew up and got over all that stuff"

-"Did that reading tell you how to beat this thing?"

-"Not really, but I think these spirits want to help you fight the priests, I mean, you kids look better already, maybe now you'll be able to escape from them until the alignment is over. Now, do you have like a panic room or something where we could lock your parents?

-"The compound itself is a panic room, because of the storm all exits are probably blocked" Johnny responded bitterly.

Suddenly the children felt a nut on their stomach, they knew the hunters were coming, luckily they felt better now and much stronger. It was time to run before it was too late. Their parents were a few meters away, in the living room, Melissa followed the kids as they quietly locked the large wooden door, leaving Dr. Quest and Race trapped inside, which would give them some time. A few seconds later they were near the kitchen trying to get to the garage were they could deactivate the security code and go away, in one of the all-ground vehicles they had in there. But before they could even get close to the garage they heard a loud blow and the sound of cracking wood coming from the living room, the kids ran as fast as they could without noticing that Melissa was left behind because she wasn't near as fast as they were. Adrenaline and fear took hold of them as they heard the loud and quick footsteps that seemed to sound closer with every second. They got to the garage door, it was locked. They tried to open it but they heard two dark, unnatural voices behind them that said:

-"You little demons will not get away from God this time"-, they turned around slowly and saw two men that used to be their parents with a menacing, evil expression on their faces, their eyes were glowing crimson red.

End of chapter two


	3. Chapter 3

-"Jesse, try to open the door, I'll hold them down" Johnny said managing to sound calm.

-"Yeah right, they'll turn you into a pulp before you can even throw a punch" She said while trying with no luck to open the door_. "How can this st be blocked? This door never had a lock!"_

Kant and Schwartz lunged at them but they couldn't get to the kids because Melissa threw herself at the priests, falling with all her weight on Kant's ribs. They turned to face their attacker but instead of fighting they saw her as if they recognized her

-"Lady Carla?" Schwartz said in surprise, -"What are you doing here and why are you protecting the monsters that harmed you?"

-"What the hell are you talking about? Look, I won't let you hurt those kids, they did nothing wrong"

-"I see, you have been possessed by the devil as well, in order to save your soul we will have to send you to our lord as soon as possible" Kant said in a menacing tone.

Melissa didn't had time to guess why the priests called her Carla, she kicked Schwartz in the stomach and threw a big punch to kant's head, Schwartz grabbed her from behind placing his forearms in the back and front of her thick neck while Kant begun to punch her chest, but the brunette was much stronger than they thought, she lifted both legs in the air letting Schwartz support her heavy weight and kicked Kant with all the power her strong big legs had to give. Kant fell on his back and the force of the hit made Schwartz take a few steps back. Of course it would take more than kicking like a mule to subdue him, he was twice her size, yet she remembered something her dad taught her, she placed her legs on the floor and her hips next to her assailant, letting all her weight go to her legs and hips she had enough stability and leverage to bend her upper body attached to Schwartz, lifting his feet from the ground, then she shifted so he could fall to the floor. With Schwartz down and Kant out of sight she thought she had won.

She turned towards the garage door and saw Johnny kicking it with all his strength, throwing it down. Jesse told her to go with them, at that instant she felt a huge pain in the back of her head and fell unconscious.

As Johnny broke the glass of the van in the garage so he could open its door Jesse saw a large pool of blood appear from under Melissa's head. Kant was behind her with Dr. Quest's cane on his hands. She tried to help her but while her attackers charged at them she felt and arm grabbing her from behind and dragging her towards the van, it was her friend telling her that they had to go before the priests caught them. They barely made it in time to shut the door as Schwartz dug his huge muscular arm inside the broken window trying to catch Johnny's throat, but he dodge him just in time, connected the cables under the van's steering wheel and the vehicle ignited. They had no time to open the garage's front door so they went trough it, breaking a hole into it.

Outside the hurricane was on its peak, the merciless wind was threatening to destroy the van and strong rain was falling against them making incredibly difficult to ride. The worst part was the dust and trees falling beside them as they tried to escape, it was impossible to see anything beyond two meters in every direction so they were riding blindly with the hope that somehow, they could get to the town and find some help. They also were worried about their parents, staying alone under this storm could be fatal and they were possessed by those maniacs, so it was quite likely for them to be walking on the outdoors trying to find them and kill them ,or worse.

After ten minutes of riding in the darkness a tree fell on top of the van's hood, Johnny tried to turn and dive it but instead he crushed under another tree in front of him. They managed to get out with only a few bruises but the van was completely destroyed. As they got out they heard horrible cries of anger and what sounded like curses. They couldn't see the priests but they knew that if they could hear them in spite of the deafening sound of the wind and lightning they had to be close, so they ran in the opposite direction. Jesse stumbled over a sharp rock and when she fell she heard a cracking sound and knew what it was, still she kept running, there would be another time to worry about broken bones once they were safe.

Eventually they found a small hill with a large hole in the front, they recognized it. It was a small cave located not far from the compound, they usually went there when they were racing in the hover boards. It was a nice place to rest from the noon's sun in the summer, now it was the best place to hide until the storm or the alignment were over.

Inside the cave there wasn't much room so they held each other in order to fit in. As their fear slightly diminished Johnny felt a sting in his arm were he crushed the glass of the van and Jesse checked her leg, luckily she wasn't bleeding.

The hurricane got worse and a lightning fell inches from them, they could feel the electricity on their bodies as they screamed in shock, they stood frozen with cold and fear until a few minutes later the raining stopped and the wind and lightning disappeared

-"Is it over?"

-"The hurricane? no" Jesse said matter-of-factly as she looked at the sky. It was clear, there were no clouds, just a beautiful starry sky and a rare constellation made of the big full moon and two bright lights coming closer to it, those were mars and venus. She noticed the moon was beginning to change its colors, then added: - "We are in the eye of the storm and the alignment is just beginning".

-"In that case be should hurry to the town before the eye passes"

-"The town is ten miles away!"

-"Do we have another choice?"

Jesse hid her broken leg from Johnny, in her condition is was impossible to walk that far away, she would probably loose her leg, but that was better than dying in her dad's hands so she nodded and begun to walk.

They walked for what seemed like ages, Jesse was grateful for the fact that the adrenaline running through her veins didn't allow her to feel pain, still she was limping slightly. They made it to the main road that connected the compound to the highway, only to realize that the road was blocked by a huge tree and a bunch of big rocks. It seemed like there was an avalanche, causing the rocks from the mountains to fall in that particular place, disappointed, both kids begun to walk in another direction trying to find another way to reach civilization.

An hour later they had to stop, tiredness took hold of them and they couldn't hear their parents anymore, so they assumed it was safe to rest for a while. Johnny saw his friend's battered leg

-"Oh god Jess, is your leg broken?"

-"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt. You see, when someone gets hurt in a situation of distress adrenaline blocks the pain so you can keep fighting or run, it's an ancient mechanism of self preservation." Jesse liked to speak of scientific facts; in this case it allowed her to keep her mind off their current situation.

-"Let me see" Johnny gently took her ankle in his hands and pulled, he knew that traction of the muscles would rearrange her bones. Jesse sighed as this maneuver released some of the pressure her limb was suffering.

-"Thanks" She responded softly, then saw his arm, it had deep cuts. –"let me help you with that" She said while tearing a piece of her leggings and wrapped it around Johnny's arm, she noticed he still had a piece of glass dug in his hand and removed it as carefully as she could, then pressed another piece of her clothes in the now open wound.

Jesse saw at the horizon searching for a path that would lead them out of there, suddenly she felt cold and begun to shiver, for a second she thought she had seen two figures standing in front of her, a blond man and a red headed woman, but then they disappeared leaving only the sight of a destroyed forest and a raging sea. When she snapped out of her short trance she noticed that Johnny was holding her

-"You are shaking"- He told her softly, his face inches away from hers.

-"I'm fine"- After saying that, lots of memories from her dreams came to her, along with realization –"This happened before, in another life"-

-"What?"-

-"I was scared, I started to shake and you held me. Don't say you don't remember"-

-"Four hundred years ago…" His voice was dark

-"First it was Lady Caroline and Jean Leger. And now this!"

-"What are you talking about?"

-"Johnny, this is a pattern, these people looked like us, they fell in love…"

-"Jesse, that's enough! It's only a coincidence, that's all!"- He didn't like where this conversation was heading to.

-"Let me finish, after they fell for each other they had a premature and violent death!"

-"In that case don't worry about it, you are just a friend to me, nothing more."-

-"Maybe we could be more than that"- She took the glass that she removed from Johnny and made a shallow cut in the back of her hand, then she grabbed the piece of cloth that was on his bleeding hand, threw it away and pressed her own self made injury against his wounded palm –"We could be brother and sister, you know. Like those pacts kids do with really good friends, so they can be like blood brothers"-

Johnny was relieved, this was not the time to cope with the fact that he was beginning to fall for his friend, and maybe if he saw her as a sister everything would be ok.

-"Sure sis, now let's get moving"

She looked at her friend, the moonlight made his white skin glow and his bright blue eyes shone in the dark; she prayed that it wasn't too late for her to see him as a brother.

After their rest they felt even more tired, but they knew they had to go on, even if the priests didn't find them by the end of the alignment the eye of the hurricane would go and they would have to face the storm, but they couldn't walk far before their hunters found them.

The children saw with horror at the two men that used to be their parents. They were unrecognizable because of the wounds the storm inflicted on them, their glowing red eyes and the awful expression that deformed their features. The kids were tired and wounded; they would be no match for those monsters, so they tried to reach to their father's soul:

-"Dad it's me, Johnny, I'm your son, please try to remember…" But he couldn't continue, Kant lunged at him and started punched his stomach with such strength he knocked the air out of him, his son tried to fight back still, nothing seemed to harm Kant. The only option for Johnny was to use a certain blow Race taught him, it was to hit the front of the assailant's larynx with the back of his hand but he knew that such blow could kill his dad. While he searched for a way to escape without seriously hurting his father Kant was strangling him with all his might. Johnny begun to loose consciousness, he looked at the sky as mars aligned with the moon and blacked out.

Schwartz pinned Jesse to the ground, she was facing the floor as his arm was on the back of her neck, he leaned all his weight in that arm making her impossible to move and really hard to breathe, he was using his other arm to throw punches at her back. Jesse begged that Schwartz wouldn't break her spine, she tilted her head back which allowed her to take a deep breath and speak, her voice was raspy and desperate

-"Daddy please stop hurting me, I know you can hear me and I know you can fight this thing"

-"Shut up you little witch" With that said he punched her head with his powerful fist, tears rolled through her eyes and saw the sky in the corner of her eye begging for something, anything, to help her.

Kant was about to finish his work with the boy, but as soon as Johnny closed his eyes a strange light seemed to envelope him. A second later his son's eyes opened and they weren't blue anymore, they were glowing a bright golden. Kant stepped away believing it was evil sorcery.

Juan stood up with an angry expression on his young features and attacked Kant; he threw a big punch at his stomach then another one at the side of his head. The power in Johnny's body was unnatural as Juan possessed him; the external life energy gave him a great strength. There was also the fact that Juan didn't care for Dr. Quest's well being. Kant was stunned but he kept fighting, he entwined his hands and lifted them at the side of his head and throwing them like a hammer, he hit the boy's temple. Juan was on the floor as he heard his love crying for help _"this time I WILL be able to save you" _

With that on his mind he crouched on the floor and jumped towards Kant and he hit him on the throat with the back of his hand, the priest fell to the floor gasping for air.

A split second later he lunged at Schwartz who was about to suffocate Jesse, all she could hear was an inhuman cry of anger as his assailant's arms left her, she turned around and saw Johnny behind her father with his arms around Race's neck. Before she could inhale again Juan tightened his already strong grip, it wasn't long until she saw the man that used to be her dad turn pale and his lips ashy grey. Schwartz tried to fight but the demon behind him was unnaturally strong and he felt his own strength leave him. Jesse saw him and she knew he was dying. In spite of Schwartz's attack, she never doubted her dad was completely innocent in all this; therefore she could never let him die, even if that meant loosing her own life.

-"Johnny stop! You're killing him" As she saw her friend she realized why he wasn't listening, his glowing eyes told her he was possessed as well. In order to stop him she took him by the shoulders and pushed as hard as she could, placed her hands at the sides of his face and spoke to him trying to sound calm and reassuring

-"I won't let you kill him, he is not our enemy, the monster that took control of his body is"

Juan looked at her with confused eyes, before he could respond he saw Schwartz standing up behind her ready to attack, he tried to stop him but the priest was too fast and hit Jesse in the head with a big branch that was torn from it's tree during the storm. She moaned in pain and collapsed into Juan's arms, he held her limp form in his lap trying to find a way to beat this awful monster, he looked at the sky, searching for answers, just in time to see venus set it's place behind mars.

Schwartz was about to hit the boy as well when a small deceitfully frail hand took hold of his wrists with unbelievable power, a split second before the branch touched the blond hair. The girl opened her now golden glowing eyes. Carolina stood up, she had taken complete control over Jesse's body and like her boyfriend she had much more strength than her human vessel. Still grabbing the hunter's wrist she turned on her heels and threw him as hard as she could, he fell hard over a broken tree then she ran towards him and begun to use her fists, knees and the rocks that where at her reach to hurt him, a second later her love was helping her and between both they easily knocked Schwartz out.

Juan held his beloved in his arms and kissed her passionately, after all those centuries they were free at last, no one would separate him from his lover again. Carolina relaxed and leaned almost limply into his strong hold, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and returned the kiss with affection, until a strong wind brought them back from the beautiful moment. They realized that the storm was coming, the eye had passed. They saw the priests seemingly dead in the ground and decided to search for a place to shelter from the storm, in the distance they saw the compound and headed in that direction.

Half way through it they noticed something different in the atmosphere as the storm advanced, as if the night had turned reddish. They raised their heads and contemplated the moon, it was turning red as a black circle seemed to block its light, the eclipse was beginning. They barely managed to see the beginning of it before gray clouds covered the moon; the temperature dropped several degrees and it begun to rain heavily.

Moments later they heard the sound of footsteps behind them and when they turned around it was too late for them to escape. Schwartz and Kant were standing there, not only bruised by their previous fight but now they had a red glow that surrounded them completely. Before that moment they were only possessed, now they were commanded and nourished by the hunter's moon in all its glory. An evil smile crept to their lips as they lunged at the couple of teens.

Schwartz grabbed Carolina by the hair and dragged her not far away, he threw her towards a big rock and she hit her head with it, the injure begun to bleed immediately but she felt no pain, only rage. She ran towards him with her upper body bent and used the momentum and her shoulder to hit the priest hard on his stomach, he fell on his back and before he could hit her back she used her not-so-long nails to make deep scratches on his face. She was determinate to rip his eyes out and almost succeeded, but her enemy was much more powerful than her. He placed his big strong hand on her forearm and in a split second he twisted his wrists, breaking the bones to the point that they came out of her skin. Carolina saw in horror at the exposed fracture, and that was all it took for him to take control of the fight. She hadn't managed to scream for the pain in her arm when Schwartz begun to kick at her chest over and over. He didn't stop until she laid limp in the ground with blood coming out of her mouth and ears.

He saw towards where his colleague Kant was doing his duty with the lord and noticed that his task was more difficult than he thought. Kant was fighting with Juan using all the skills he learned at the crusades, but the boy was strong and stubborn, every time the priest threw a punch Juan blocked it and returned the favor, in one point the boy hit him in the face, between the eyes, and in that moment of distraction he placed his foot behind his enemy's one and pushed him making him fall, he was about to step hard on the man's throat but before his foot reached its destination Kant grabbed it and twisted it violently. Since Schwartz was more muscular than his partner and the little wench was taken care of, he decided to help his friend fight the kid.

Back in the compound Melissa was barely on her feet, she had never felt so weak in her life, but after the concussion all the memories of her previous life came back to her, and she knew that if she didn't do something to stop the children's death her soul would be cursed for the eternity, therefore, she used the cane that hit her head to help her walk and headed towards the sounds of battle in the distance

-"I have to tell them the truth"- she told herself -"It's the only way"-

Kant swung his fist at Juan's head but he used his forearm to block the punch while the other arm hit the hunter's ribs, the priest used his other elbow to hit his head but the boy remained insensible to his attack, on the contrary, it seemed to make him stronger. Then he saw his partner behind the kid and realized what he had to do. He kept using his fists to harm Juan but more importantly, to distract him. They fought for a while until Kant pushed the boy, behind him was Schwartz holding a big broken branch. Suddenly Juan heard a cracking sound, he saw below him and found a branch coming out of his chest and a river of his own blood pouring out of the wound. He didn't feel any pain; it was more like being cold and diving into hot water. He closed his eyes and a soft moan came out of his lips the moment he collapsed.

Both priests heard a small cry of pain after the boy fell, they looked to were it came from and saw the girl dragging herself towards her beloved with tears on her face, once she saw he was down, she lost all hopes and her consciousness

-"I can not believe she is still alive" Schwartz said in disgust

-"And she is not the only one, the young man is still breathing"

-"What do we do?"

-"Simple, the storm is powerful and I believe that the ocean will have enough water to wash their sins"

With that said they held the children in their arms. They were about to throw them to the ocean when a voice stopped them

-"NO, DON'T DO IT! Melissa cried in despair, what she would tell them might save the kids, too bad the priests wouldn't be eager to hear her….

End of chapter three.


	4. Chapter 4

-"STOP IT, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!"- Melissa yelled as she ran towards them, Kant thought he had murdered her hours ago:

-"Satan must give these pagans a lot of strength" - He said tiredly

-"Or maybe we just have to try harder"- Schwartz answered

They threw the children unceremoniously to the ground; after all they were almost dead while this other woman seemed strong and healthy. Before she could speak both men lunged at her, but in spite of her heavy form she dodged them in the nick of time. She moved so fast around them that she didn't seem human, no ordinary woman would move like that. Now there was no doubt that she was the real witch.

The hunters tried to surround her, Schwartz threw a punch at her but she ducked in less than a second and it landed upon Kant's face, who was trying with no luck to immobilize her from behind. She turned on her heels and kicked Kant on the stomach using her knee while she placed both her hands behind his neck forcing his head to meet his chest, instinctively he bent his upper body as one of his lower ribs broke, then he kneeled on the wet ground and blacked out.

She turned around and saw Schwartz standing behind her with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his eyes were red and his face had an expression of pure hate and anger. Melissa knew she wouldn't be able to reason with the priest so she decided to kick him, but he absorbed the impact with ease, it seemed that he was becoming stronger by the minute. First he hit her with the back of his hand in the face, breaking her nose, and then he grabbed her left arm and twisted it behind her back. That was the moment that she noticed something important, before he used his other arm to strangle her. She felt no pain, with that thought on her head she spun around in the opposite direction almost freeing her arm, Schwartz saw that and placed both hands on her forearm and twisted his wrists, breaking her bones, but this time his victim wouldn't feel pain, therefore she wasn't paralyzed or even distracted by it. She pulled her broken arm from his grasp and in a split second she gave a high kick that landed on his forehead. Stunned, he gave a few steps back, and that was all Melissa needed. With an unnatural speed she crouched, after a few milliseconds she found a rock on the floor and used it to knock him out by hitting him with it in the back of his head, Schwartz was now unconscious in the mud.

She allowed herself to breathe and relax for a second, she had to take the kids to the compound and find the way to save them. She approached them, the rain fell hard on her soaked face and the wind was colder now, almost freezing. Below her the kids barely managed to breathe, they were laying in a pool of their own blood. She searched in their necks for pulse and she couldn't feel it, which meant that their blood pressure was too low. So worried she was for saving their now fading lives that she didn't noticed Kant approaching from behind her. He had played dead all this time; Schwartz distracted her with his fight, tiring her, while Kant waited for the right opportunity to strike. Once behind her he grabbed her chin and twisted her neck, after a soft cracking sound she dropped to the floor.

Unlike his partner, Schwartz wasn't playing dead, he was unconscious. Kant left his victims aside and went to help him wake up; he moaned and slowly stood up.

"Where are those monsters?"- His tone was so harsh it didn't sound human anymore.

"They are right there"- he said pointing to the cliff, but neither Melissa nor the kids were in sight.

"That's impossible! I left them there how could they…?"-

They looked around searching for them and saw a thick shadow moving trough the rain, they noticed it was Melissa

"Dammit! I didn't use enough strength…"- Kant said in frustration

"Let's get her…"- Schwartz answered, his voice sounded raspy and tired, the power that the hunter's moon provided them was fading fast

She was heading towards the compound, she heard the yells of the hunters, and time was running out. She had both kids, one over each of her broad shoulders; she knew she had to hurry if she wanted the kids to survive, so she ran fast as a lightning to the compound. She entered trough the hole the van made in the garage's front door and ran towards the infirmary, once there she laid the children in the beds they used before. Melissa knew there was a way to lock the door using a secret password. The whole compound's security system depended on a computer, she remembered Race calling it IRIS, but of course, she didn't know what the password was. It wasn't necessary, as soon as she stepped out of the infirmary the doors locked hermetically, and a gentle female voice said _–"infirmary's security system activated, code blue, level 6"-_

"_This thing is so advanced I didn't need to use a code, awesome!"_ Melissa thought.

Now she had to focus on her goal, she had to stop those murderers before they ended what they had started. At that point she realized that even if the children got proper treatment in a hospital, which was impossible because of the storm, they had almost no chance to survive. She had examined them before leaving; their last strength was focused on breathing. They were using all their abdominal and pectoral muscles to inspire; such thing was called "paradoxical breathing" which was a fancy word for agonizing. She knew they wouldn't make it to the dawn.

Her worried reflections ended when she saw the two evil men standing in front of her. She didn't care if they killed her; once Johnny and Jesse were dead her mission would be a failure and a punishment worse than death would come to her. Still, at that very moment all she wanted was to tell the truth. After all those years she would speak with honesty and they would listen, even if that meant that she had to take those monsters to hell with her.

………………………………………………

Jesse woke up in what seemed to be the large living room of the manor; she turned her head towards a source of light and noticed that she was lying next to a fireplace. She could now clearly see the wood burning slowly. For a moment she didn't want to remember anything of what had happened. All she wanted was to relax listening to the calm music of the fire next to her. Then she heard a familiar voice from behind

-"I see you are awake now"

She gasped at the sight in front of her, it was her dad. She barely recognized him because of the scratches on his face, but then she saw his eyes and screamed. It wasn't her dad. It was Schwartz; his red glowing eyes still burned in her father's face

-"What are you doing here? What do you want? Why am I not dead? - She yelled trying to run away, but she was stopped by a sharp pain in her chest

-"I would not do that if I where you. Your injuries will not heal if you keep moving" His voice was now calm, but not as kind as her father's.

She didn't trust his advice and decided to run while she still could. She removed the blanket that was covering her and noticed she had no clothes on. Ashamed, she sprang to her feet in order to run, until an awful pressure took hold on her leg and fell.

Schwartz grabbed her before she hit the floor. Jesse found herself in the arms of the monster she hated, even when the pain was making her numb she begun to kick and wriggle as hard as possible. His grip tightened on her, but this time he was quite gentle, as if he was trying to stop her from making more damage to herself. Eventually she gave up; it was better saving her energy for a better time. He leaned close to her, cupped her face in his hands and spoke in an almost friendly voice

-"Do not be afraid of me, I will not hurt you, not anymore. As for your clothes, the rain was too cold and you lost a considerable amount of blood, once we could treat you we couldn't rise you temperature, we had to take off your wet clothes and placed you here, where you could get warm"

-"Why?" she said between sobs, she wanted her dad back, now more than ever

-"There is something you need to know…"

……………………………….

Galicia, Spain 1611

Kant saw with pride at the dungeon filled with suffering pagans, Jesus would be proud of him and all his work. In this place all the ones that committed sorcery were judged and punished, it was far from any village because this prisoners were all of royal blood, and even when they were as evil as any peasant they had the privilege not to die in front of a raging mob, but in the privacy of Mother Nature.

His friend Schwartz came to him in a hurry, he had met him during the crusades, he was a powerful general but in spite of his skills, the war failed and they committed themselves into a monastery in the alps until the holy inquisition came to them. They were chosen because of their blind faith and strong stomach, something they would need, because if those pagans weren't guilty of such sins they would have never allowed all the atrocities. Sometimes praying wasn't enough to sleep at night peacefully but their close minded personalities kept reminding them that they were doing the right thing. They were heroes, saving the true catholic faith from Satan. Unlike many priests, they didn't join the inquisition because of greed and hunger for power; they did it because they were fanatics.

The case that had affected both of them every night for over a year was the one of Carolina Velazquez and Juan Bustamante, mostly because the accused were so young and never confessed.

Schwartz came to him with a pained expression on his face. He delivered a letter in an envelope that said "The last confession of Carla Herrera". It was sent by Carla's husband.

…………………………………..

Rockport Maine 2006

-"The letter explained the truth. After we read it we resigned and left Spain, as a self inflicted penitence we went to Rome and told everyone in the Vatican the truth about the inquisition. We explained the pope that the witch hunt was driven for greed and private interests, not for saving the souls of pagans. At first nobody heard us, but in time other persons joined our cause to the point of causing a rising, but our small revolution failed and we were sentenced to prison for the rest of our lives. In that dungeon we prayed every night for forgiveness. Maybe god heard us and was kind enough to give us a second chance, I am not sure. All I know is that before I reincarnated I was given the chance to start again. This time I would save and protect you, as your father, of all the danger in this world, and I did my best… until now. The hunter's moon brought back all he evil of my doings and it wasn't until Carla told me what happened that I remembered mi mission, luckily you are still alive I have the opportunity to keep my promise in order to save my soul"

-"So you really are my dad" Jesse felt like living in a dream, she refused to believe what was happening. She told herself everything was only another nightmare and that soon she would wake up, go to the kitchen as always and find her dad making coffee and Johnny playing on questworld.

-"In a way. A soul changes in every reincarnation, he is kinder and wiser than me and he would NEVER do what I just did, that is something you need to know"

-"Will I ever see him again?"

-"Of course my child, the eclipse is almost over"

-"Good because I need him now"- She felt pain in her heart, but this time it wasn't physical, she asked: -"How's Johnny?"-

-"Carla is taking care of him, in this life she is trained for that. It is strange she did not react to the alignment the same way we did. Kant is helping her, last time I saw him he was donating his blood to the young man."

At that moment she remembered how her friend was impaled and understood it wasn't a dream, this was truly happening:

-"He better survive all this" She said while grabbing Schwartz by his collar with her good arm, her face was pale but her eyes were filled with green fire –"because if he doesn't I'll…" She couldn't continue, at that moment she felt as if her throat was swallowing fire and pieces of broken glass, she didn't understand what was happening. The world became blurry, distantly she heard her dad's pained voice echoing through the haze her conscience had become, Schwartz was finally gone.

_-"Jesse? Oh my god, what did I do?... Jesse, can you hear me?... Please ponchita stay with me… JESSE_!

The damage in her thorax was too much, her lungs breathed as long as they could but the blood and the broken bones finally made her respiratory system collapse.

She felt her soul elevate in a peaceful light, in a blink of an eye she found herself standing in paradisiacal landscape, made of emerald green trees of the most beautiful and perfect shapes, in the distance there were purple mountains with small traces of snow that seemed to coronate the horizon. She looked down and saw beneath her feet small flowers of every color dreamt by the man covering the ground, above her head there was a pink sky with silver clouds, the place was illuminated by a golden light, much brighter than the sun itself, she was in heaven.

She walked for a long time, enjoying every sight her new home had to give her. All her memories were blurry, she barely remembered her name but it didn't matter. Names, belongings, physical looks, in the end nothing of that was important, her soul didn't need an identity. Now, she was where she belonged. The sweet silence that surrounded her was interrupted by the singing of a bird that flew close to her and passed only inches above her head. It was the most beautiful bird she had ever seen, with long feathers that changed colors as it moved through the sky, something inside her told her she had to follow it. The phoenix like creature led her to a waterfall where two lovers played. They were young adults but they acted like innocent children. They were playing a simple version of hide and seek, jumping trough the white rocks that surrounded the waterfall. They moved with a grace that no dancer could ever accomplish. A few moments later they saw her and approached the newcomer. One of them was a beautiful woman that looked like a carbon copy of Jesse, but she seemed a few years older and her features were a little more delicate. Next to her a young, handsome man saluted her, he was blonde and his face brought memories of someone she had met before arriving here, then she remembered who they were

"Jean and Caroline!"- she said in surprise

"I see you remember us"- Caroline said sweetly

"I'm afraid there is no time for introductions, we have to tell you something very important"- Jean interrupted addressing to Jesse

"Yes, we don't have time. You and your friend helped us cross over and now it is our turn to help you, there is a course that lies upon you and your friend. For ages, every time we reincarnated the same story repeated itself: we met each other, first as brotherly like friends until in some point of our lives, mostly during our adolescence, everything changes and in a matter of seconds we fall in love. After that within a few months we die by violent circumstances only to reincarnate and begin the same cycle". - Caroline continued with a dark expression on her lovely face.

"We were forced to kill ourselves by a force greater than our understandment. If it wasn't for you we would still be killing each other, night after night".- jean explained

"So it wasn't just a jealousy issue?"- Jesse was puzzled

"No I'll never hurt my beloved, I didn't have many reasons not to trust him, the letter was innocent, and I didn't want to…"- she sighed–"I was driven by a strange energy… I couldn't… think"- Caroline begun to sob

Jean held her close to him, he understood her. After all, he was forced to kill her as well. He would have never murdered her no matter what she did, but the red fury that involved him so many nights ago didn't understand of reasons or love, it only followed the rules of cruelty and unjustified violence.

Jesse remembered Johnny, and the promise they made under the storm, she was dead, so it was obvious that her feelings for him were deeper than just a crush

-"Thanks for the explanation, but I think it's too late for me. By the way, did Johnny survive?"-

…………………………………………..

End of chapter four


	5. Chapter 5

……………………………………………………

…………………………………………………….

Johnny was sitting in a beach, this was different of every beach he had seen before, the white sand was so soft that it felt like cotton and it sparkled with the dim light of what seemed to be the moon, he wasn't sure because it didn't have the spots where craters should be, on the contrary it looked like a perfect pearl placed in a dark blue sky made of velvet. Stars where golden and much brighter than he remembered, in front of him the sea shone with light on it's own, filled with blues, purples and silver shades that danced harmoniously, he focused his sight on them and realized they were beautiful medusas and rare, almost transparent fishes who created light on their own, there was such peace in this place, he didn't remember much of what happened but he didn't care, in spite of being alone in this paradise he felt loved. A soft breeze caressed his face, he inhaled the fresh smell of the ocean and smelled perfume, it was familiar but he couldn't place it, then it dawned on him, the soft haze that clouded his memory disappeared, he turned around and saw her, he had waited this moment for years

Mom! - He said happily while running to her arms.

Hi Johnny, I'm so glad to see you- She hugged him tight while speaking. –Sorry I wasn't here to welcome you but I was busy saving your life and your friend's as well-.

I think you failed; we're in heaven- he said softly.

No I didn't ,we are now standing in bado, a borderline between the dead and the living, this landscape is an image of what you think paradise should be like.-

So, I'm not dead?

No, you are in what could be called a coma, but soon you'll wake up. This is just a place where you can rest of all you've been trough.

Dark memories flashed in his mind, he tried to push them away but he couldn't

-Everything will be fine Johnny, don't be scared-

-I hope so- He saw his mother, she was pale and her kind blue eyes showed nothing but pain and sadness.

-Are you OK?-

She sighed and spoke in a tired voice:

-You and your father never got over my death, in order to help each other to "move on" you hid your pain and never spoke about it. Instead of mourning properly you turned me into a dark secret hidden inside of you, and because of that I'm tied to the world of the living. I can't cross to the other side until I know you'll be fine, that won't happen until you accept my death.-

-Mom I'm sorry, I didn't know we were hurting you but it's hard to move on, it was so painful that…-

-It's okay Johnny, it was never your fault, but you need to move on and open your hart to your father, if you accept my death eventually he will-

-I'll do my best- he said softly.

-That's all I ask, now there's something you need to know, after what happened Benton will be broken emotionally, guilt is already consuming him, he really needs you.-

-He shouldn't feel guilty, Kant was the one that…-

-I know- she interrupted him -But he doesn't see it that way. Goodbye Johnny, I love you both-

Suddenly his mother was gone and the wonderful landscape turned into a grey, thick fog. He walked his way towards the light back into consciousness.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Benton sat beside his son's bed, his stare was blank looking like someone who stood in the edge of madness. All the memories of the previous day replayed in his mind, the children's illness, a black haze and waking up to realize he had done the unthinkable. He used all his medical skills combined with Melissa's in order to keep his son and Jesse alive, the damage was extent but a few hours later the hurricane passed and Race used a helicopter (the Quest's latest acquisition) to take the kids to the nearest hospital, several test were made and some specialist were called both Benton and Race called for favors. Twelve hours later, the children were stable, Race was talking to his boss, probably doing his best to explain the situation, there wasn't much of a chance that anyone believed them but they didn't care.

As soon as possible he would call Doug so he could take Johnny away, he couldn't live with what he had done and he knew his son would be safer with his grandfather. Besides, Hadji was in India with his mother, if Doug wasn't able to take care of him he could always live with his brother. Race must had thought the same for he heard him trying to contact Stella, unfortunately the hurricane destroyed most communication lines and altered the signal of several satellites.

By his side Johnny stirred, his pale skin seemed to fade in the white sheets, Benton held his hand and noticed the ugly scratches in his arm. "_I did this_" he thought, tears swelled in his eyes, he cried softly for a moment, but by the time he wiped his face the lesions had disappeared. Benton sighed in disbelief and begun to examine his son's injuries, he found that most of them hadn't just healed, they had faded away without leaving any trace or scar.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Philip Corbin managed to erase the social worker's visit from the register book of the hospital, apparently Race called social services himself, claiming he had hurt his own daughter and Johnny Quest. Nonetheless the doctors and several other specialist's reports said there was absolutely no sign of abuse, only a high fever that was now receding. He didn't know what to think about the sudden lapse in Dr.Quest and his bodyguard's sanity, but he didn't want any of this in Race's records, Corbin knew how hard his friend had fought to gain custody of Jesse. A claim like this, no matter how absurd, could put years of legal battle in jeopardy.

-"I know what I saw, Race, the kids are going to be fine and they don't have a single scratch on their bodies. Look, maybe you had that fever yourself and you hallucinated or maybe you just need a long vacation, you've been through a lot lately, maybe it had a toll on you."

-"You weren't there Corbin, I know what happened and I know it's hard to believe but.."-

-"Hard? No it's impossible, ghost, possession and all that might happen. I have seen my share of strange phenomenon's but I will never believe you could be able to hurt those kids Race, you love them too much"-

-"Yeah, but that didn't stop me from…"- Race blanched as the rush of memories flooded his mind.

-"Jesse's fine"- Corbin said soothingly. –"Why don't you check on her yourself? She's still asleep but as soon as she wakes up you can take her home.-

-"I can't!!, Look why don't you talk to Melissa? She's probably still at the compound and saw everything, I know she'll verify our stories"-

-"Right… Melissa Hodges, Is this the girl you're talking about?"-

Corbin sighed and handed Race a photograph

-"Yes, have you talked to her already?"-

-"No, no one can. Now I need you to listen to me carefully"- Corbin spoke in a calm, controlled voice. –"This girl died two years ago, she killed herself in the library's basement. I have no idea of why you imagined her as well, but if anything she proves my point, whatever happened was nothing but a bad nightmare, the sooner you and Dr. Quest understand that the better"-

Five days later the entire Quest team was packing their belongings, they were leaving the compound in Maine and this time it was for good, they were moving to the mansion located on the keys. The main reason Dr. Quest brought his family there was to give them a normal life, but now he knew that was pointless, normality would never be a part of them. There was no evidence of the previous chaos, there were no broken doors or walls and nothing was out of place, making it easier for Benton and Race to believe everything had been a nightmare. After all, the physical evidence (or lack there of) surrounding them corroborated that theory and both kids went out of their ways to convince their parents that none of this was their fault.

As days went by they realized that if a lie repeats itself over and over you end up believing it, yet at night violent flashbacks clouded their dreams making impossible for them to sleep.

A month came and went, things were back to normal or at least what the Quest team considered it to be. The beautiful sunset shone over the island on the Florida Keys Johnny enjoyed the calming sound of the ocean, beside him stood Jesse, her eyes also lost in the sight. He turned his head and saw her, the fair peachy skin, flaming red hair flowing in the wind. His heart skipped a beat at the vision before his eyes and realized that history was repeating itself, a blond boy and a red haired girl falling in love just to be swept over by tragedy and death. Part of him wanted to run away, love was scary enough without a curse hanging on their heads, but another part of him knew better. He had no idea of what destiny had planned for them by he knew that whatever came his way he would face it, all of them would.

The end


End file.
